Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $484.51 and last traded at $484.11, with a volume of 580761 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $480.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

Linde Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $468.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $232.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.99, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 46.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 48,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,593,000 after purchasing an additional 15,393 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 40.7% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 23.6% in the first quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 18,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at $5,041,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 28.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,071 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,319,000 after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.